Wolves at the Door (21 page)

Totally avoiding her request for pictures of my date, I threw in some questions about Dad and how they liked Montana. Then I clicked the send button.

Since they’d left, my mom texted me twice but that was weeks ago and she’d only contacted me because she wanted me to check my e-mail.
They’d never once called to actually speak to me. For two people who’d been so protective of me all my life, it seemed odd they’d let me go so easily and be satisfied with e-mails.

Normal parents would call once in a while. Why the complete one-eighty?

Maybe once they were gone, they enjoyed the vacation I’d blackmailed them into. Maybe they had an epiphany and realized my life wouldn’t fall apart if they weren’t around every second of every day. Possible.

Or they’d been spotted and were being chased by werewolves. Maybe they
couldn’t
use their cell phones. Maybe they were so busy running that they could only manage an e-mail now and then. Was that why they showed up without warning and left so quickly? The idea of them being hunted was terrifying.

Zack was right — I needed to find out who my parents really were.

With a little time before school, I ventured into their bedroom and poked around. I checked all their drawers, taking them out and looking inside the dresser itself. Nothing. I slid my hands between the mattress and box spring, peered under the bed and even checked the pockets of their clothing hanging in the closet. Still nothing.

Empty handed, I vacated their room and made a beeline for my dad’s office. Beyond the open door, papers cluttered his desk and file cabinets guarded either side. The kind of thing I needed would never be left out in the open and I’d done their filing for years. I needed to look where I’d never been. But that would have to wait since I was out of time.

Sighing in defeat, I turned away from his office and got ready for school.

† † †

My deadline to figure out how Gina had framed me was fast approaching. The only way that I could think of getting information out of her was to make friends with her. Ick. I hoped she wouldn’t make me grovel.

Since meeting Gina months ago,
I’d learned a thing or two about the school food chain. There were two kinds of popular kids: the ones who ruled by intimidation and the ones who got to the top by treating others fairly. I was the latter.

B
ecause Gina bullied and manipulated to get her way, she needed someone like me around to make her appear more likable. If I forgave her flaws, then others might too. Not that she needed anyone’s forgiveness to inflict terror, but being friends with me gave her the benefit of the doubt in other’s eyes, which gave her more power for her dirty work. That was my theory anyway.

The girl honestly
didn’t know the first thing about real relationships or how to earn respect.

I parked in the far corner of the school lot where my car wouldn’t be obvious. Grabbing my books, I hurried through the double doors. Instead of continuing, I waited inside, just beyond the entrance against the wall where I’d be easily missed. As students arrived, I eyed each as they passed. At last, I saw Gina and fell in step beside her.

“So, how’s it going?” I asked as if there had never been a rift between us.

Gina flinched and stopped in the middle of the corridor to stare at me. “What do you want?”

“Well… Neither of us have boyfriends anymore. It’s just us again.” I shrugged, staring down at my feet, then drew my eyes back to her puzzled face. I sidestepped as someone nudged by me. “Never mind. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I took off, not looking back, hoping I’d appeared sincere and praying like hell that my plan would work.

Gina had been a complete bitch these past few weeks, but our relationship hadn’t always been that way. We’d hung out since my first day at Verdugo Hills Academy, I’d eaten dinner with her family and watched her interact with them. We’d been through bad times and good. I knew the real girl under the provocative clothes and platinum highlights. She may have been selfish and spoiled, but behind the snide remarks lay a lonely and very insecure girl. Just like me.

Except I solved my problems differently. For one thing, if I liked a guy, I’d never resort to hijacking him, especially from my best friend.

I’d planted a seed with Gina and if my gamble paid off, I wouldn’t have to wait long for it to take root. Until then I needed to give Maya the heads up.

I arrived outside just in time to see Maya get out of Zack’s Jeep.

Hello, beautiful
. On the outside, Zack barely acknowledged me, his face void of any emotion for onlookers’ benefit.

I tried not smiling, but failed. I did, however, successfully restrain myself from showering too much sunshine in his direction before sharing it with Maya and Trevor.

“Hey, Autumn,” Trevor said.

“Hey.” I switched to Maya. “Can I talk to you?”

She looked inquiringly at Trevor before tipping her face up to receive his kiss.

He smiled, his lips meeting hers. “See you at lunch.”

I flinched, wishing I was doing that with Zack. But I couldn’t. The single life at school was already wearing on me. Waving to the boys, I led my friend away. Once in the bathroom, I checked the stalls to see if we had company. Empty. I couldn’t believe my luck.

“
Is this about Zack? Are you regretting breaking up with him?” she asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t need a boyfriend like that. Anyway, listen. I need to talk to you alone, but I don’t want Zack knowing about this. You know how he is, coming to my rescue all the time. He’ll feel obligated to help me and I don’t want him getting dragged into this mess.” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I got caught cheating in Mr. Collins’s class and—”

Maya gasped. “You cheated?”

“No.” I shot her an irritated look. “Why would I need to do that? The point is that Mr. Collins
thinks
I did. He was going to call my parents. That’s all I need, right?”

“They’d be back to hover over you.” She grimaced. “I don’t think I could go through that again. It was painful to watch.”

“Exactly. Anyway, I talked him into giving me a week to prove my innocence. Natalie’s in that class with me. I’m pretty sure Gina put her up to… whatever Natalie did.”

She scowled. “Those bitches. Do you have a plan? I’d love to nail Gina. How can I help?”

I leaned against the sink, listening for anyone who might be about join us. “I don’t know yet. But I think it might be a good idea to patch things up with her.”

Maya’s jaw went slack and she took a step toward me. “You can’t make nice with Gina. Not after what she did.”

Laying my hand on her arm, I nodded. “It’s just pretend. Maybe she’ll let down her guard, slip up and give me a clue to how she did it.”

Maya visibly relaxed and grinned. “That’s brilliant.
If
she’ll make up with you. That’s a pretty big
if
.”

“I’m still popular
, even though she’s trying to ruin me, and she can’t stand it. If anything, she’ll want to pretend to be my friend so she can take me down.”

“Be careful.” She bit her lip.

The door swung open, ending our chat.

† † †

I purposely lingered around the food, hesitating by the yogurts in hopes that Gina would seize the opportunity to reconcile with me. I chose raspberry and placed it on my tray, keeping my head down while surreptitiously scanning the cafeteria for her.

An arm snaked around my waist, a nose poking the back of my neck. Greg, the jock douche. I wiggled out of his reach.

“Autumn. Damn, you look hot in those jeans.” He gave me a lopsided grin, his breath smelling of smoke.

I’d become too familiar with cigarette smell from my parents. This wasn’t from that kind of smoking. Greg was high. Maybe he thought I might be more receptive to him hitting on me while he was in that condition. Because, yeah, guys were so much more attractive with a lower IQ.

Not.

“Hi, Greg.” I didn’t smile, moving away to pick out a drink.

“So… dumped the loser, huh?”

“Ancient history, Greg. Daniel and I broke up weeks ago.” I pretended to study the selection of sodas, annoyed with him for wasting my time when I could be working Gina over.

His brows flew up and he giggled, making a piggy noise, which made him laugh harder.

I rolled my eyes and turned my back to him, making my way to the tables.

He appeared at my side again, walking with me. “I meant your latest boy toy, Zack.”

Stopping to face him, I put my innocent face on. “Zack and I are still friends. And, if they were both in a loser contest, Daniel would win.”

“So if he wins in a loser contest, he’s the winner and biggest loser too?” He laughed, sounding a little like a hyena. “That’s funny, Autumn. I always liked your sense of humor. So when are we gonna go out? You know, hook up?”

“Hook up?” My stomach lurched at the thought, but at this point, I didn’t want to alienate him. That would get back to Gina and I needed to convince her of my eagerness to be in her crowd again, which wouldn’t happen if I was rude to her friends.

“Yeah.” He grinned, stroking under my chin with his finger.

“
Um…” I swiveled and continued walking, then stopped to scan the lunchroom again. I’d unconsciously walked to Zack’s table when I hadn’t intended to.

Zack’s gaze burned through me.
Tell him no
.

I turned around to face Greg. “The thing is… it’s too soon for me to date again. I went from Daniel to Zack and right now, I just need some space. I’m not looking for another relationship just yet.”

“Who said anything about a relationship, babe?” Greg oozed, giving me his sleaziest grin. “Let me know when you’re ready for a real man. No strings attached.”

Nodding, I commanded my face not to scowl. “I’ll do that.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply, pivoting and taking a seat next to Maya. I risked a peek at Zack, but his expression gave a
way nothing as he chowed down his burger.

I ate in silence, listening to Maya and Trevor carry on about what a jerk Greg was and the nerve he had for hitting on me with Zack just a few feet away. Zack barely looked at me during lunch, much less spoke to me. I sighed, loathing school and stupid jocks. Mostly, I hated the lies that had piled up and were working hard to tear Zack and me apart.

Zack. Everything okay? You’re awfully quiet
.

Yeah. Everything’s just fine
, he said, but he didn’t even glance my way.

Why was he being weird? It wasn’t as if I’d invited Greg to hit on me.

I wasn’t hungry anymore. Leaving the table, I went to put my tray away. I dumped the trash in the bin and jolted as something brushed my arm.

“Hey, Autumn.”

It was Cameron. He was a jock too, but nothing like Greg or Daniel. He was actually nice, even a little shy. I’d had a crush on him the first few days when I’d started school, but Gina had carefully explained school hierarchy and why he wasn’t good enough for girls like us.

Cameron had never made a move anyway. Daniel
had swept in and I’d barely thought of Cameron since. Then Zack came along and now, no guy could compare to him.

“You gonna be around after school?” he asked.

“I guess so.” I really hoped he wasn’t going to ask me out. It was kind of expected from a jerk like Greg, but I hoped Cameron had more sense than to hit on
any
girl so soon after a break up. It’d been less than two days.

“Ashley’s having some people over after school today. You going?”

I stifled a surprised laugh, my brows raised. “You mean her parents are allowing
any
one to come over since that fiasco? It was what, less than two weeks ago?” Daniel had spiked the drinks and the partiers seized the moment. Chaos ensued. I was sure Ashley would be forbidden to have anyone over for a very long time.

He shrugged. “She can have people over, so long as it’s not too many. And everyone has to be gone by dark. Bring your bathing suit. It should be fun.”

He’d asked me if I was going, which was totally different than asking me out. Definitely not a date. And being with other people would take my mind off Zack while he was at work. “I’ll be there.”

“Cool. See you then.”

I smiled and waved as he turned and left. On my way back to our table, Zack got up and walked toward the back exit leading to a hallway and outside.

Where are you going?
I asked.

He didn’t turn around.
Just getting some air
.

Was he mad at me? If so, why? If I was fake-single, I couldn’t be expected to neve
r talk to another guy. If I avoided interaction with other guys, it would look odd, especially when I sat at Zack’s table so often. I had to do something to show we weren’t still together, right?

Besides, it’s not as if I’d flirted with Greg. The way Cameron informed me about the pool party was as harmless as an invite could get. And if Cameron was interested in me, he would’ve acted on it months ago.